Residence of primary winner for Santa Fe Magistrate Court is questioned
Jul. 30—A losing candidate for Santa Fe County Magistrate Court has filed a complaint with the New Mexico Secretary of State's Office questioning whether the man who beat her in the primary election lives in Santa Fe County — a requirement to run for the seat.
In her complaint, Melissa Mascareñas, who came in second in the four-way Democratic primary for the Division 2 magistrate seat behind prosecuting attorney Dev Atma Khalsa, says voter registration data indicates Khalsa may have lived in Rio Arriba County during the election cycle.
The complaint says there is data showing Khalsa lived at two addresses — one in Santa Fe County and one in Rio Arriba County — earlier this year, during the primary season.
"These numerous addresses find it difficult to tell if he is in fact residing in Santa Fe County as required to run for this current position," Mascareñas wrote.
She then cites a provision of the state Primary Election Law that says a candidate must reside in the district of the office for which he or she is running.
"Sounds very weird to me," Mascareñas said by phone Thursday.
The two addresses for Khalsa included in the voter registration card data Mascareñas submitted as part of her complaint are on West Sombrillo Road and Seis Corazones — both in Española.
The first is within the boundaries of Santa Fe County while the second is in Rio Arriba County, a spokeswoman for the Rio Arriba County Assessor's Office said.
Attempts to reach Khalsa by phone were unsuccessful. But in an email, he wrote he lives at the West Sombrillo Road residence "within SF County."
He wrote he had not had a long-term address "for some time, and was house sitting and received some mail" at the other address. He also wrote he has received mail at a post office in Santa Cruz, which is within Santa Fe County.
In her complaint, Mascareñas also said Khalsa's New Mexico driver's license has an address in Bernalillo County.
Khalsa emailed that while this is correct, "I have not lived there since May of 2019 or so."
Alex Curtas, spokesman for the New Mexico Secretary of State's Office, wrote in an email his agency has not yet taken action on the complaint. He said his office usually receives one or two complaints questioning candidates' addresses every election cycle.
"I can't recall any of these complaints in the past couple of years that got someone disqualified from the ballot," Curtas said. "Maybe there has been one or two, but it certainly doesn't happen very often that someone gets kicked off because of an address issue."
Mascareñas and Khalsa ran to replace longtime Judge George Anaya Jr., who did not seek reelection after 25 years on the bench.
So far, Khalsa faces no opponent in the general election in November.
Magistrates handle cases that include issues surrounding traffic violations, drunken driving, felony preliminary hearings and landlord disputes.
